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frequent urination

hi
what d'ya think: i cannot stay without goin' to the toilet for more than an hour ( also at night!!!!!) and i often have terrible back pains (kidneys???). my urine tests were normal but i heard this is not excluding kidney envolvement in a sle case with fever, pleurisy, pericharditis, headache, neuropathy and fog....

Here is an article I found - if it does not answer your questions, let me know!
"Frequent urination is urinating much more than is required. Frequent urination is a common problem among people suffering from problems in the prostate gland and the urethra. Frequent urination is also a symptom of many diseases. To understand the causes of frequent urination, we must first know what urination is all about.

WHAT EXACTLY IS URINE?

The urine is fluid made up of wastes produced within the body. Urine is transparent and yellow in color. The urine is made up of nitrogen compounds, salts, toxic wastes and excess water.

URINATION

Urination is a normal process of excretion. Urination excretes the toxic substances that form within our body. Urination occurs when the bladder gets filled up. Next, the receptors which are stretch sensitive get stimulated. Then the message is transmitted to the brains. During urination, the sphincter relaxes as the urine flows out from the urethra. The urge to urinate is generally quite intense. A person ready to urinate gets the relief only when he successfully expels the urine.

URINE AMOUNT OF A NORMAL PERSON

The approximate amount of urine daily produced by an adult body is 1.5 litres (three pints). The body needs to excrete daily not less than 0.5 litres (one pint) of these waste substances.

EXCESSIVE, LESS OR FREQUENT URINATION

Either state is a sure symptom of a serious dysfunction of the urinary system. Frequent urination is also a tell-tale sign of ailment.

DIAGNOSING DISEASES

The common method used to examine a patient’s urine for diagnosing ailments is urinalysis. If the test indicates the presence of blood sugar or glucose, it is a sign of diabetes mellitus. And, if there is the presence of bacteria in the urine, the urinary system may be having some infection. What is more, presence of blood cells in the urine is a probable sign of cancer of the urinary tract. Hence, it is important that one has a clear idea of the entire urinary system.

THE URINARY SYSTEM

The urinary system is constituted of the organs that produce and also secrete urine from the body. To know the causes of frequent urination, it would be first necessary to know of the organs involved in urination. Mentionably, frequent urination occurs when any (or all) of the main organs like the kidneys, the urethra, the bladder and the prostate gland does not function.

THE KIDNEYS & THE BLADDER

The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs. This duo produces urine by filtering substances from the blood. Urine flows from the kidneys via two thin tubes known as the ureters. Then, the ureters carry the urine to a muscular vessel called the bladder. The bladder of a normal adult has the capacity to store urine up to approximately 0.5 litres. From the bladder, the urine is excreted through the urethra tubes.

THE URETHRA

The urethra carries urine from the bladder to the penis. In a woman, the urethra is approximately 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in length. This is strictly a urinary passage. However, in the case of a male, the urethra is about eight inches (20 cm). The urethra in a male passes through the penis which also conveys the semen during a sexual intercourse.

THE PROSTATE GLAND

In the case of a male, on either sides of the urethra are located the prostrate gland and the bladder. The chestnut-shaped prostate gland secretes the prostate fluid. This fluid constitutes the major portion of the released male semen during an intercourse. The diameter of the prostate gland measures approximately 1.2 inches (three centimeters). The prostate gland is composed of muscle as well as glandular tissues. The muscle tissues aid the male ejaculation process. The glandular tissues produce the prostate fluid. This fluid keeps the semen-based sperm active and healthy. In other words, the prostate fluid helps the fertilization process.

CAUSES OF FREQUENT URINATION

Frequent urination may happen in person for various reasons. It may happen due to hot temperature and for hydration. The process of hydrate refers to a compound in which water is chemically combined with another compound or an element. Therefore, hydrating means to chemically combine with water. It may also refer to the cause to absorb water. The root of the word ‘hydrate’ is in French. It is related to hydro or water.

PROSTATE GLAND ENLARGEMENT & FREQUENT URINATION

Frequent urination is caused by prostate gland urination. The blown up prostate gland constricts the urethra. Thus the bladder is obstructed temporarily. This condition is called prostate enlargement. This happens because of the thickening of the bladder wall. This state may also lead to an intensive urge to urinate, difficulty in urination, nighttime urination. All of these are sure signs of a weak urinary system. Frequent urination coupled with excessive thirst, blurred vision, sudden loss of weight, and fatigue may be symptoms of diabetes. Frequent urination is induced when the body reacts to high glucose levels in the blood. This again leads to perennial thirst. If such a condition persists, the person should immediately consult a urologist.

PROSTATE DISORDERS

There are several causes of prostate disorders. Such dysfunctions afflict men of all ages. BPH (Prostatic hyperplasia): This is a benign or non-cancerous and quite a common prostate ailment. The cause of BPH is still unknown. Prostatic hyperplasia occurs in almost 80- per cent of men after they cross their 70s or 80s. In such a state, the prostate gland may grow from the normal size of 20 g (0.71 oz) to that of 150 g (5.31 oz). Mentionably, the normal size of a prostate gland in a young man is 20 g (0.71 oz).

UROLOGISTS & URINARY SYSTEM DISORDERS

Urologists specialize in the treatment of disorders of the urinary system. Here is an overview of the different urinary system disorders.

Renal failure: This is a serious disorder. Renal failure happens when the toxic substances get stored inside the body. Renal failure is caused when the system filtering blood slows down or stops working. Renal failure can be caused by acute bleeding in the post-surgery stage, drug poisoning, heart failure (congestive), injury, bacterial infection, and shock. Urologists address renal failure by first analyzing the root cause(s). The primary objective is to make the kidney function again. The methods adopted are surgery and blood transfusion. In the most severe instances, the patient may have to undergo kidney dialysis. Then, the blood is filtered mechanically.

Chronic Renal Failure: This is deterioration of kidney functioning in a progressive manner. Chronic renal failure can even damage the kidneys. Chronic renal failure is caused by many ailments like myeloma (cancer), AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), lupus erythematosus, diabetes, and hypertension. Mentionably, if detected at the initial stages chronic renal failure can be slowed down but it cannot be reversed. The degenerative process can be kept under control to certain extent through various interventions. Such preventive measures are cutting down on protein and fluid intake and regularity in medication consumption. It is to be noted that proteins are the primary sources of waste products.

End-stage renal failure: This is a life threatening dysfunction of the kidney. Patients suffering from end-stage renal failures need long-term dialysis and may also have to go fro kidney transplant.

Urinary calculi: This disorder is popularly known as development of kidney stones. Urinary calculi build up over a period of time. These kidney stones are made up of the minerals and the crystallized salts that remain in the urine. Urinary calculi disorder of the kidney is usually accompanied by acute pain. The pain is caused when the kidney stones block the paths carrying urine. Generally, these stones move within and out of the urinary tract on their own accord. But if they fail to pass out of the body, they are surgically removed. At times, the urologists use the ultrasound technique called lithotripsy to break down the kidney stones non-surgically.

Bacterial infections: They are caused by Escherichia coli – a common bacterium present in the intestines. Such bacterial infection can attack any part of the urinary system. The normal treatment is antibiotics. There are instances of such bacterial infections becoming chronic and recurrent.

Bladder & Kidney Cancer: During the course of the last four decades, the incidence of people falling victim to bladder and kidney cancer has risen. The reason is the rise in the number of people leading sedentary lifestyles, and smokers. The other causative agents are obesity and environmental pollution including some industrial chemicals. Abuse of analgesics is also one of the primary causes in the rise of cancers even among the young people. The treatment for bladder and kidney cancer is removal of the cancerous tissues followed up by radiation therapy.

Polycystic renal diseases: These are inherited and congenital disorders of the urinary system. These polycystic renal diseases occur when numerous cysts form in the kidney. These cysts reduce the number of those renal tissues which function. The patients would have to undergo kidney transplantation or Kidney dialysis under such circumstances.

Hypospadias: This a congenital defect of the males. The urinary opening gets misplaced on the penis. The urinary opening may lie under the penis head or be located as far away as the scrotum. The immediate treatment is to go for surgery before the child reaches 24 months. Such prompt response and surgery can not only rectify the defect, but also permit normal urination and, later, sexual intercourse.
Nilutpal Gogoi is a writer and a freelance journalist having more than 18 years of service in several audio-visual and print media reputed organizations in North East India. He has published more than 1000 articles and a popular adventure book for children.'

I just want to apologize for responding so clinically to your request. Just as I was researching your post, an emergency arose and I had to just post what I found and send it on to you, in order to respond to my emergency here.
Please, if you need anything further, do let me know and I promise I will be much more personable! :lol:

I was peeing what seemed like every hour during the day and 3 or 4 times a night! I worried too that it was my kidneys but it turned out to be caused by Sjogrens syndrome, which people with lupus often have. It causes your body to not produce enough saliva and often goes unnoticed until it causes problems with acid reflux or urination among other things.

There are a lot of causes of frequent urination, some very serious, so I know you know how important it is to insist your doctor find the root of the problem. I think it's at least worth asking if it could be Sjogrens though. Taking a nexium twice a day cut my bathroom trips in half, who knew! Good luck, I totally understand how annoying and disruptive something as simple as a few extra trips to the restroom can be, you know, when your trying to sleep, as if lupus doesn't keep us up as it is!

I did not know that Sjogren's can cause urination problems and scid reflux. Can you explain? I have Lupus Nephritis with chronic damage, but seem to be doing ok on Cellcept. Does anyone know if chronic damage to kidneys can cause frequent urination forever? It seems I can hardly ever go a whole night wihtout peeing.

When your body is not producing enough saliva, as it does with sjogrens, it can cause all sorts of problems bacause your digestive system is missing a critical element to it's process. Acid in the stomach is not properly diluted which can cause it to gurgle up into the esophogas and cause damage, it also can iritate any part of the digestive system as well.

It only takes a 25% reduction in saliva to create serious problems, but the average person doesn't notice anything going on until saliva production is reduced by around 75% (causing dry mouth or trouble eating). There are other reasons sjogrens irritates the bladder and causes frequent urination but I don't have the book with me now so I will post them later.

People with sjogrens usually drink a lot more liquids to compenste for the problem without knowing it which is another reason for all the trips to the loo. Kidney problems though I'm sure cause more urinary problems than sjogrens.

I have a "wierd" urinary problem, which I will discuss when I see the specialist (by the way, his name is Dr. Phineas....when I called to make an appointment, his nurse said, "Well, Dr. P doesn't come in til ten." DR. P! :lol: With my silly sense of humor, I laughed until I almost...well, you know.
My strange problem is that I will "feel" like I have to go, then I sit and sit and wait....sometimes turning on the faucet helps, sometimes not. I wonder if this is a "carryover" from my teaching days, when I'd have to hold it for hours sometimes.

I ordered 3 books on Sjogren's after it was pretty clear that I had it as well as SLE. I haven't read them yet - I never realized it could cause urinary problems or acid reflux. I've just been overdosing on information about SLE - lots of books, lots of web sites. I just haven't had the heart to get into Sjogren's information as deeply. (Seems like with all this research, we should come out with some kind of credential, doesn't it?) The specialist I saw in Minneapolis really seemed to indicate that Sjogren's could be a greater problem than the lupus, but the combination of the two can be particularly nasty.

"If you trust Google more than you trust your doctor than maybe it's time to switch doctors."

Often, lupus when diagnosed after menopause (late-onset lupus) is milder than SLE that occurs during the childbearing years. Unfortunately the opposite is true with Sjogrens, when the initial onset of sjogrens is post-menopause, it tends to be more severe and have more potential for organ involvement. So that might be part of the reason for concern. But my rheumie also agrees that having more than one autoimmune disease can make all of them more potentially serious. I'm like you - I tend to focus more on the lupus - it's been the most expensive in terms of doctor and hospital visits, although the Sjogrens caused me to rack up some big dentist and ENT bills. It's funny but the disease I think about the least, scleroderma, is probably the worst in terms of serious illness, but I had never heard of it before I was diagnosed.